ISLAMABAD, Dec 21: Federal Minister for Environment Maj (retired) Tahir Iqbal has said no project will be allowed to be executed before carrying out its Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).

The minister was speaking at the inaugural session of a training workshop on "Environment Impact Assessment: A tool to achieve sustainability", held here at a local hotel.

The two-day workshop has jointly been organized by the environment ministry and the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) for the capacity building of Pakistan Environment Protection Agency's officials to effectively carry out EIAs.

It is worth mentioning here that, at present, Pepa is severely lacking adequate workforce to perform EIA of the future projects. In this connection, Mr Iqbal said, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had already agreed to the ministry's proposal for making EIAs of upcoming projects mandatory and issued directives to all government departments.

EIA is meant for analyzing environmental impacts of a project on nearby population and the ecosystem. All over the world, EIA is a must for any project be it industrial or developmental, and unlike in Pakistan, environment ministries are considered as key ministries.

Talking about the capacity-building of Pepa officials, the minister said in this regard, we had to go a long way, and the government was very much committed. "A comprehensive project focussing on strengthening Pepa has been sent to the government for approval as we need more trained people to meet the uphill task of EIAs all over the country," he added.

The minister also stressed the need for imparting training on latest techniques to Pepa staffers both at federal and provincial levels. He vowed to reinforce Pepa across the country in a bid to effectively carry out EIA of development projects.

He also emphasized awareness raising among the masses and the developers through integrated efforts by the community, civil society organizations and the government. Mr Iqbal appreciated the valuable cooperation extended by the UNDP to address the environmental issues, and hoped that the workshop would come up with concrete proposals to help set the future course of action.

In his welcome remarks, Environment Secretary Javed Hassan Aly also talked about what he said critical importance of EIAs. He said EIA could prove to be a vital tool for environment- friendly development in the country which in turn would have positive impact on the health of the masses. Pepa Director-General Asif Shuja Khan, speaking on the occasion, stressed capacity-building and imparting training to agency's staffers on modern lines.